Students expressed mixed reactions Wednesday night in dorms and other buildings around campus to President Bush’s State of the Union address.

The president emphasized his domestic program for 2005, and then talked about recent successes in Iraq.

Bush advanced his plan for privatizing Social Security. He said he will cut the deficit in half by 2009 by eliminating about 200 “ineffective” government programs and lowering the number of class-action lawsuits.

“I urge Congress to pass legislation that makes America more secure and less dependent on foreign energy,” Bush said.

Bush warned that by 2018, Social Security will pay more than it takes in. He proposed putting some Social Security money into private accounts that could be invested in stocks and bonds with higher rate of return than the government’s.

After Bush’s proposal was met with some boos within the Capitol, he countered, “Our children’s retirement security is more important than partisan politics.”

Political science Prof. Jeff Jenkins said he was not surprised that Bush concentrated on Social Security.

“(Social security reform) is the domestic crown jewel of his second term,” Jenkins wrote in an e-mail.

But some students are not sure if Bush’s plan will work.

“His ideas are good in theory, but whether they are feasible or not has yet to be seen,” said Weinberg freshman Laura Garofalo, who watched the speech at the Public Affairs Residential College.

Bush celebrated the recent election in Iraq and said America would continue to fight for freedom and to end terror.

“My administration will keep building the coalition that will defeat the dangers of our time,” Bush said. “We will stay on the offensive against terrorists until the fight is won.”

College Republicans gathered in Kresge Hall to watch the address. Members Lauren Sprigg, and Dan Valencia, a Weinberg junior, said they appreciated the introduction of an emotional Iraqi voter and the teary parents of a soldier killed in Iraq. But Sprigg said some will write the guests off as cheap appeals to people’s emotions.

Sprigg, a Music junior, also said she liked the structure of the speech.

Weinberg freshman Ariella Lis, one of about 20 students watching at PARC, said she was taken aback by the strong stance Bush took against abortion and stem cell research.

“My grandfather died of Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and this research could have saved his life,” Lis said.

Several students from the HIV/AIDS Literacy Organization, the NU Conference on Human Rights and Debt AIDS Trade Africa student groups gathered in Kresge to see if Bush would address U.S. domestic and international policy on HIV and AIDS.

Michael Chanin, a Weinberg junior and chairman of the Conference for Human Rights, said he was disappointed Bush did not.

“He didn’t talk about the issues we were hoping he would, but we are optimistic the government will provide funding for international human rights initiatives,” Chanin said.

Jenkins said the success of Bush’s proposals is yet to be determined.

“Republican members of Congress who face continued elections have to decide whether they want to risk initiating big policy changes, especially reforming Social Security, which has always been a political hot potato,” Jenkins wrote.

Reach Julia Neyman at [email protected].